Stargate Command: UK
by ripplestone
Summary: After the discovery of an ancient Stargate near Stonehenge, England, a new Command centre is set up nearby. The morning after a hurricane hits the South Coast, a strange object is found buried deep in a cliff and the team are sent into investigate... (follow on from Stargate Equinox)
1. Chapter 1

**SGC: UK**

 **Episode One ~ The Big Silver Disc**

 **Winter**

The hurricane hits the south coast with sixty mile an hour winds, clawing at the coastline like a wild beast, devouring beach huts, promenades, cars and cliffs. Crashing waves over buildings and tearing trees from the ground, it leaves a trail of devastation in its wake as it passes.

Commander Jack O'Neill leans nonchalantly against a wall outside the empty diner, sipping on a cup of coffee, enjoying the calm, bright sunshine after the storm the night before. Deep underground, the SG:UK base had been untouched by the hurricane but the coast had taken a pounding nearby. One or two small villages are still flooded from the high storm surge and roads are blocked by fallen trees. The army had been mobilised and some of the ground crew from the base have gone to help.

'There you are... we are wanted for a briefing, _now_!' Daniel Jackson calls from the doorway of the diner.

'Briefing? What about?' Jack doesn't move from his resting spot.

'I guess we will find out at the briefing.' Daniel yells over his shoulder heading back to the express lift. 'Hurry up!'

Jack sighs and drinks the rest of the coffee, feeling it scald the inside of his throat. 'Ouch, this had better be worth it and not another one of the Professor's team building sessions,' he mutters under his breath. By the time Jack reaches the atrium where the rest of the team are gathered, Professor Pete Cromwell is pointing to a video of what looks like a cliff on a beach playing on all the screens.

'Last night, the south coast, as you know, was battered by a once in a century storm. This is a cliff at Charmouth. A stretch of shale and clay, notorious for cliff falls and mudslides. Last night a huge section was washed down onto the beach by the storm revealing this.'

Pete points to a large silver object wedged tight into the cliff, sunlight glinting off it's curved edge. 'I have already dispatched the ground crew to cordon off the area ahead of us arriving. We will fly in by helicopter from this end of the beach and approach with caution.'

'Embedded into the cliff by the storm?' Jack asks, taking a closer look at the footage playing on a loop.'Is it a grain silo roof?'

'Possibly.' Pete replies.

'Look how much cliff has fallen onto the beach.' Tealc remarks, 'Is it possible this object was revealed by the storm?'

Daniel wanders over to a nearby screen and freeze frames the video, capturing a slightly blurry close up of the object. 'Buried in the cliff? Those shale sediments must be thousands of years old, hey, this is our first UCO!'

'UCO?' Jack knows he is going to regret asking, Daniel's jokes are never that good.

'Unidentified Cliff Object.'

Jack flinches slightly and nods in reply. Just as he thought, not funny.

'Jurassic, the cliffs are Jurassic era, it was a seabed about 195 million years ago, that's why they are famous for their fossils.' Agnes Dale pats Daniel's arm consolingly. 'Not an unidentified flying object, more like a unidentified seabed object, USO...'

'Alright! Enough with the acronym's UCO, USO, UFO... whatever. The helicopter leaves in ten minutes, get your kit, be on it!' Pete abruptly brings the meeting to a close.

As Jack leaves the atrium he glances at the object, freeze-framed on screen, if it was alien technology it would pre-date anything they had ever discovered, ever. Without knowing why, he runs over to the cabinet where the glyph coins for the Stargate Pool are kept and keys in the password, the glass cover clicks open and he takes one of the gold tokens and slips into his pocket. By the time he grabs his jacket, cap, field bag and side arms and sprints through one of the tunnels that lead to the old quarry where the utility vehicles and helicopter pad are, the rest of the team are already waiting. He leaps on board just as the helicopter takes off and it turns in a wide, low arc over nearby Stonehenge before heading south to the coast.


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel, Teal'c, Agnes and Jack stand in front of the cliff fall on the beach, their boots encased in mud and pebbles. It had taken half an hour of walking and wading through streams of mud and sand to reach the spot on the beach where the silver disk protrudes from the cliff. The sound of water pouring from the land above, loud over the soft swell of the calm sea behind them, the fierce sunlight shining off the metallic disc and the eerie cry of a passing seagull make this empty stretch of coastline feel strange and alien.

'Weird.' Jack remarks, pulling his jacket tighter despite the sunshine. 'So what do we know about this... _thing_?'

'Only that it appears to be inert, our initial scans have shown no radiation, no movement and no noise.' From a small field tent nearby, carefully camouflaged to resemble the cliff, a voice emerges followed by its owner, a tall, striking woman, with a clipboard and a handful of badges. 'My name is Gail Overton, from the.. well, from a government department and I shall need you all to wear one of these.' She hands each of them a film badge. 'It will monitor any radioactivity exposure while you are on site.'

'I thought you said it wasn't radioactive?' Daniel questions, pinning the badge to his lapel.

'At the moment, no but often things can change rapidly Dr. Jackson. Just a precaution.'

'Which department did you say?' Jack asks, intrigued by her evasiveness and the fact she knows who they are.

'She didn't.' Peter intervenes, 'A pleasure to see you again Professor Overton, how is the General?'

'Fine, well, getting a on a bit really, but still soldiering on. Now, these are the dimensions and guestimate of weight. The metal is similar to silver...'

' _Similar?_ But not silver?' Daniel takes the piece of paper Gail hands him and gazes up at the disc, trying to find any markings or engravings on it.

'No, not silver or any metal or alloy we can find.'

'How about age? Is it alright if I touch it?' Daniel reaches out a hand and pauses.

'Go ahead. As far as I can tell, ageless, that is to mean of uncertain age and therefore could be extremely ancient, or modern or..' Before she can finish her sentence.

'Or alien?' Jack has a hunch about who Gail works for. She smiles at him, 'Yes, _or alien_.' She sighs and shakes her head. 'I can see you won't let this go, I work for the Defence Department, in alien encounters.'

'Like the X-Files?' Jack grins.

'Pretty much, yes. But obviously not Stargate Command, that's all your bag. More UFO sightings and strange phenomena. Usually it turns out to be a scientific explanation, St. Elmo's Fire, sunspot activity, earthquakes...'

Agnes joins Daniel as he slowly runs a hand across the smooth, polished surface of the disc. 'Anything? Any markings at all? What an extraordinary object!'

'Nothing I can see.'

Above them the sound of a Chinook helicopter draws closer. The unstable cliff slipping more at the vibrations from it. 'That's to hoist it out of the cliff. We are taking it back to SGC, too hard to shut this site down from the public for long. A satellite will be in range soon and I don't want the whole world to know we have a possible UFO.' Peter shouts as the helicopter gets nearer. 'I want you, Teal'c and Agnes to supervise the harnessing of the object, so as not to damage it. We want to pull it gently from the cliff but have no idea if it will hold together.'

From overhead, four soldiers rappel down ropes and then lower a cradle large enough to hold the disc. Leaving them to supervise the removal from the cliff, Peter follows Jack and Gail into the small field tent.

'I've searched my database. Nothing like this has been found on our shores since the Department started keeping records but your team may have better resources for finding historical data than I have.' Gail stops to pat the head of an elderly bloodhound, patiently sitting near her desk inside the tent. 'Hello Gen.'

'The General?' Jack asks, giving the dog a scratch behind the ears.

'Yes. He likes you... So I asked Peter if SGC could take over. I'm pretty much a one woman band, and this... object is way beyond anything I've come across before.'

Jack can sense this is going to be a goodbye as she hands Peter a set of files.'This is all the data so far, we keep it all old-school. People are always trying to hack in to our computer systems to search for conspiracy theories so we keep non-digital records. I'd appreciate a report at the end of your investigation.'

'Well, couldn't Professor Overton work with us on this one. You know, on secondment, since it's basically a UCO, her input would be invaluable, I'm sure.'

'A UCO?' Gail asks, baffled by the abbreviation.

'Unidentified _Cliff_ Object.' Peter shrugs apologetically, 'I know, sorry. Not a good joke. We could use your input, perhaps for an extra couple of days?'

'The General's welcome to tag along too!' Jack gives the dog a hug.

'Well. I'd love to see the inside of SGC...'

'That's settled then, I'll help you pack up your little tent here.' Jack starts to dismantle the tent before either Gail or Peter can refuse.

'I'll get your clearance organised. You can travel with us in the helicopter back to base.' Peter hands her back her files and retrieves his phone to call the Defence Department.

Outside the big silver disc rests in the cradle, one half still caked in a layer of mud and rock. The four soldiers and Teal'c take up positions on the cradle around the disc, harnessing themselves in place while Agnes and Daniel look on. A large tarpaulin is secured over the disc and the Chinook departs, swinging slowly out over the sea in a slow wide turn before heading back up over the cliff and away. Daniel and Agnes join the others and they head back to where their helicopter is waiting on the tarmac of the local beach car park. By the time they reach it, the Chinook with the UCO has already arrived back at Stargate Command.


	3. Chapter 3

**At Stargate Command**

By the time the team arrive back at SGC, the Chinook and the team of soldiers are gone and the big silver disc is resting gently on its cradle at the bottom of the old quarry where the tunnels lead back into the base. Teal'c and a team of technicians from the base are busy setting up an electrified perimeter fence around it.

Now it is out of the cliff, it is possible to see the full size of the disc with a diameter of 7 meters and a depth in the centre of 2 metres tapering to about 30 cm at the edge. Apart from a thick layer of mud on one half, the surface seems smooth, unmarked as though new, a sparkling sheen over its silver surface making the chalk walls of the quarry shimmer in reflected light.

'We might want to build a shelter over it.' Jack remarks, joining Teal'c and helping with the perimeter fence. Stop it attracting attention.' He points upward and Teal'c nods in agreement. 'There is camouflage netting in one of the store rooms. We can build a tent over it.'

'Good, I shall leave you two to organise that and to set up CCTV on it, there are already cameras in the quarry you can utilise those. I want it monitored at all times. Now, Gail, if you and the General follow me, we'll find you an office you can work from and give you a quick orientation tour.' Peter guides Gail towards one of the tunnels and The General obediently follows after them.

Daniel and Agnes walk slowly round the disk, taking in its full size. 'We need to get the rest of the mud off it and try and work out what it is made of.' Agnes remarks, almost to herself.

'I think it's too big to have come through a Stargate.' Daniel rests a hand on the disk, it feels warm to the touch in the sunlight.

'I was thinking the same thing. I'm going to organise a team to help me clean this thing, we'll treat it like an archaeological dig, try and conserve anything of interest that might lie in the layer of mud and shale as we remove it. It will take some time though.' Agnes thinks back to her days at the Museum, conserving up old coins was a painstaking procedure. 'How long do you think it was buried in the cliff for?'

'Pre-dating all historical records I think, there is nothing I know of that matches this object, in any Earth mythology.' Daniel shakes his head.

'A cover stone of some kind? From a burial maybe?' Agnes stands with her hands on hips, taking in the full scale of the object.

'I'd expect there to be some kind of markings, plus the fact it isn't of any known metal. It must be extra-terrestrial in origin.'

'How about a meteor?' They are joined by Jack and Teal'c.

'A meteor?'

'Well, if the cliffs were once an ocean perhaps a meteor would deform into this shape after hitting the water, you know, like a stone skimming the surface.'

'It is a possibility but I've never seen a meteor so perfectly smooth.' Agnes replies.

'Worn smooth by the tides?' Jack tries to expand on his theory.

'Tides...it's like the moon...' Daniel says, half to himself.

'A full moon.' Teal'c adds.

'I don't think I am going to find anything worthwhile in the libraries on Earth and it looks as though Professor Overton has the UFO aspect covered here...'

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Jack pulls the golden Royal Doublet coin from his jacket pocket and holds it up, the glyph for Avalon glinting in the sunlight.

'The library in Tower of the Magi?' Teal'c suggests.

'Exactly!' Daniel nods.

'You had better let Peter know where you are off to!' Agnes smiles at their enthusiasm. 'I'm going to stay here and get this thing cleaned up.'

'Oh,' Jack slips the coin back in his pocket, his excitement crushed by Agnes's reminder of the chain of command. 'Cromwell isn't going to let us go, is he?'

'Well, he seems to be too busy to disturb right now...' Daniel observes, 'Agnes could let him know where we've gone...' He smiles hopefully at her and she rolls her eyes as she answers. 'Go on then, I'll let him know where you are if he asks but don't blame me if you have a ton of paperwork and a telling off waiting when you get back!'

Fifteen minutes later, Teal'c, Daniel and Jack pull up in a jeep at the Stargate pool at Blick Mead. The bare ash trees and scrubby woodland form a hedge around the pool, hiding it from anyone who passing by. Jack takes the coin from his pocket. 'How do we get back?' He asks, pausing for a moment. At his side, Daniel pulls another Royal Doublet from his inside coat pocket and holds it up. 'Celestia. This is for our return journey to Earth.' He slips back into his breast pocket and pats it.

'Am I the only one who did not borrow a coin without asking?' Teal'c asks, shaking his head.

'Ah, but you bought your Ma-Tok staff, Teal'c'

'Yes, but it is not a coin.'

'But to travel through the wormhole we all have to hold onto something together and that will work very well.'

The three of them hold on to the Ma-tok staff as Jack flips the glyph coin deftly into a wide arc over the pool. For a moment nothing happens and then the vortex whirls up in front of them and teh three of them step into the swirling water spout.

Aelixor the Magus looks up from the heavy tome he is reading at the old wooden table in his tower. Something is affecting the Sands of Time, he can feel it deep in his subconscious. _The Stargate!_

The thought bubbles up to the surface of his mind and he smiles and jumps up. Perhaps it would be his friends from Celestia. For a moment his smile clouds over. This time, Ninian would not be there to guide him on another adventure but he pushes the thought away and reaches for the hood of his blue cloak, pulling it up over his head and carefully closing the book he was reading. the he makes his way to the landing stage jutting out from the library's portico where a coracle is moored, floating on the silver sands of time surrounding the tower. Aelixor casts off and dips the small boat's rudder into the fast flowing sands, steering a course for the gate dais, hidden in the mists of Avalon, a league across the silver ocean.


	4. Chapter 4

**On Avalon**

'Heeellooo...' Aelixor's voice reaches the dais the gate pool is built on long before Daniel, Teal'c and Jack can spot the small coracle, barely visible in the mist, as it carries him across the Sands of Time. 'So pleased to see you again, my old friends. Only three of you this time?'

'Aelix! You have...' Daniel is about to say aged. It is hard to believe the man in the blue cloak standing in front of them was the young apprentice less than a year ago. Daniel changes his sentence in order not to offend Aelixor the Magus. '...You have arrived!'

'Yes, the Sands of Time spoke to me. Quickly climb in and we'll talk more back at the Tower, no time to lose. Are you in trouble again?'

'No, well...not yet.' Jack climbs carefully into the little boat, leaving room for the other two. 'We need your help in trying to identify an object we have found. Daniel thought your library might be a good place to look.'

'Of course, of course! A welcome break from my studies.' Aelix spins the little craft round with a deft move of the rudder and the boat starts to skim quickly over the fast running Sands of Time, a silvery wake rising up behind it. 'Now, no dangling your hands over the side.' Aelix looks directly at Daniel and Teal'c chuckles. 'I think he learnt his lesson last time. You look different Aelix, more like a Magus now.'

'Yes Teal'c, your words are very true. With Ninian gone, I have grown to try and fill his shoes. But the power of a Magus brings with it the weight of knowledge, wisdom ages us quickly. We live in the Sands of Time for a reason, it offers us a way to slow the process. _Ah, here we are, home!'_

The mist swirls away and reveals the Tower. Aelix guides the coracle to the landing stage and they step through the familiar portico into the ground floor library salon.

 _'A large silvery disc...'_ Aelix is almost talking to himself as he clambers across the bookshelves stretching up the curved wall inside the tower. 'Not a metal you know of?' he calls down to them.

'Not from our planet anyway...' Daniel calls back up.

 _'Watch out!'_ Aelix manages to pull a volume out from its shelf with a misstep and the book hurtles towards the floor below. 'Sorry!' His voice floats down after it.

Jack manges to deftly catch the volume before it hits the huge oak table and places it neatly on the smooth wooden surface. Daniel reads the title aloud. 'The Discovery of the Fortunate Isles... this is incredible! This book is...'

'Not for you! These ones are.' Aelix nimbly jumps down, plucks the volume from the table and throws it up into the air, out of reach. It seems to glide back into place on the bookshelf from where it fell as Teal'c, Jack and Daniel watch in surprise. Then Aelix places a large stack of books and folders on the table and spreads them out as though dealing cards. The books fall open at the relevant pages and soon the four of them are engrossed in reading various descriptions of silver discs, hoops and circles.

After a long while, when none of the descriptions match their object and they are all about to give up, Daniel spots something in a small pamphlet, caught in the dust jacket of another book, advertising a horse race. 'Look, look at this.' he points to a picture of a chariot, drawn by a team of horses, where the wheels are spinning fast, blurred by the artist into the shape of their UCO.

'Epona's Chariot Day.' Aelix picks up the pamphlet. 'They used to race chariots with their horses, very much like your Romans once upon a time.' The pamphlet starts to crumble in his hands. 'The object is a wheel? You said it was a disc. A wheel is a whole different handful of sand.'

'If it is a wheel, Aelix, it would belong to a giant's chariot.' Teal'c spreads his arms and hold the Ma'Tok staff out level. 'It is twice this diameter.'

Aelix stares at Teal'c's outstretched arms for a moment and then smiles. 'Not a giant, Teal'c. A giantess!'


	5. Chapter 5

**On the Big Silver Disc**

Agnes holds a soft brush in one hand and top rung of the stepladder in the other as she carefully sweeps away at the dried mud. The big silver disc glitters in the sunlight and, despite the chill air, she hasn't felt this at ease with her work for a long time. There is something calming about the methodical cleaning of the surface. Below her, a tarpaulin catches the falling pieces of clay and above her another ripples and catches like a sail overhead in the light breeze.

The disc is mesmerising in its plain uniformity, and there, at the top of ladder, it's like she can feel the world turning on its axis around it. Like a wheel. For a moment she loses her footing slightly and places her hand firmly against the surface of the disc to steady herself. It is warm, almost hot and there is the tiniest sense of friction but it must be because she is falling, not because it's turning. She lifts her hand and inspects her palm. But there is nothing to see except the dust from the disc. Agnes glances across the curving surface, _could it be a wheel?_ She shakes her head and turns back to her cleaning. So far she has found nothing but a small shell and some fossils from the cliff mud, the disc appears to be completely free of markings of any kind.

 **In the Atrium at SGC:UK**

Professor Peter Cromwell is in his element giving Professor Gail Overton a guided tour of Star Gate Command. As they walk around the complex, the General wanders along obediently at their heels, his doleful eyes taking it all in. '...and this is our hub, where we run operations from. So I hope you...'

Before he can finish his sentence, there is a thunderous crashing sound, echoing up the tunnels from the quarry, followed by screaming and yelling. 'What the..' Without thinking, Peter and Gail both run towards the tunnels but ahead of them is the General, ears flying as he runs towards the commotion. By the time they reach the quarry, the noise and dust has subsided and Agnes is being stretchered away from the fallen scaffolding which held up the cradle the disc was on, her ladder in pieces on the ground. For a moment Peter and Gail can scarcely work out what is going on.

'Agnes, what happened? Are you hurt?'

'My leg! I'll be OK, I think it's just a sprain. The scaffolding gave way, just as we finished cleaning the disc, it all sort of leapt up in the air...ouch...'

'Take her directly to hospital. You need an X-ray on that leg... no, don't argue!' Peter waves the two first aiders holding the stretcher towards a Jeep.

'Peter, I think you should take a look at this...' Beside him, Gail is holding onto The General's collar as he tries to leap up in the air, trying to catch something. Above their heads, perfectly suspended in mid-air, the large silver disc is floating unsupported by anything and is starting to slowly spin.

 **In the Tower of the Magus**

'Now, I shall need to talk to someone, someone who will remember the time of the giants... We must travel to Maere!'

'Maere? _The nightmare realm?'_ Daniel asks, 'Why there?'

'Yes, why there?' Jack adds, not keen on the thought at all. 'Is this giantess you mentioned there?'

'No! We must travel to Maere because that's where some of the creatures from the time of the giants still live and hopefully still remember.' Aelix replies. 'We must find Spinner, she'll know.'

 _'Spinner?'_ Jack asks, really not liking the name. ' _Spinning a web sort of Spinner?'_

'Exactly. Now Daniel, do you have one of your magik coins for Maere?'

'No, no I don't, we'll have to go back to SGC:UK for it, I'm afraid.' Daniel pushes his glasses up his nose and sighs. 'I was hoping for a little bit longer here, with your books to be honest.'

'I am sorry, Daniel. But if this is a wheel from a giantess's chariot we have no time to waste.'

'And why is that?' Jack asks. _'And how will talking to, no doubt, a very scary spider on the scary planet of Maere help the situation?'_ But Aelix has already leapt through the portico to the little boat waiting beyond and does not answer, all Daniel, Teal'c and Jack can do is follow on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Back at SGC:UK**

Aelix, Teal'c, Daniel and Jack drive back at Stargate Command from the Stargate pool to find the big silver disc spinning mid-air, with Peter, Gail and some technicians trying to work out how to tether it down. They are about to fire a series of ropes over it and as soon as Aelix sees what they are doing, he leaps from the still moving jeep and runs over, shouting, ' _No! Don't try and stop it! It will not work...'_

But Peter doesn't hear him and gives the signal for the ropes to be fired up over the disk and anchored on the other side, large grappling hooks embedding deep into the floor of the quarry. Aelix watches on aghast as the ropes seem to hold for a moment or two and the disc starts to slow. Then, without warning there is a large tearing and grinding sound and the hooks are dragged out of the ground and the ropes, split and flail, bouncing off the sides of the disc and flying off across the quarry.

 _'Look out!'_ Jack nimbly sprints to where Gail is standing and manages to throw her to the ground just as one of the ropes whizzes past, nearly slicing her in two. Aelix leaps over the end of one of the ropes and grabs Peter as he too, stands, rooted to the spot in disbelief that his plan hadn't worked. The ropes slither to a halt against the quarry sides and the disc spins quicker than before.

'What happened here?' Daniel asks, surveying the wrecked scaffolding and the free floating disc. _'And where is Agnes?'_

Once everyone has picked themselves up and dusted themselves down they head back inside the atrium where Aelix explains his theory, almost certain now he has seen the big silver disc that it is a wheel from a Giantess's chariot.

'A giant's wheel from Maere? How on earth would it be stuck inside a cliff in Dorset?' Peter is not at all convinced by Aelix's theory.

'You once had giants on your planet too.' Aelix folds his arms and glares at Peter, not liking his tone of voice at all. 'Many simply sleep under your mountains still.'

'...Taranis, was thought to be the god of thunder in Celtic times and Cyclops in Greek times...they had chariots... are you saying these mythological giants existed?' Daniel trawls his mind for all the references to giants he can remember.

Gail joins in. 'There are lots of giants associated with these Isles, maybe they came through the Stargate..'

'No, no...not through the Stargate!' Aelix tries not to sound impatient. 'The wheel you found is from a space travelling chariot, the size is indicative of a giantess and I have one in mind in particular. One who is rarely remembered these days, so hidden by the great distance of time. The legend is known only by a few and one of those few is Spinner. Her kind, now almost vanished from Maere are master spinners, their silk is as bright as your moon is silver and stronger than metal, woven and then cast in the giants' foundries into weapons, chariots and armour. It can withstand the fabric of space itself.'

Peter can feel his blood pressure rise slightly at the thought that the big silver disc is turning into another bizarre chase across galaxies, this time for a giantess who has a chariot made of spider silk. This report would not go down at all well at the ministry. _'So how do we stop the wheel?'_

'Stop it? There is no way to stop it Peter, you can only still it and hope it never breaks free from where it was hidden.' Aelix shakes his head and claps his hands together. 'Now, it is free to look for the other parts of the chariot it is from and it will tear apart anything, anyone and planet which gets in its way.'

There is a sudden silence across the atrium as everyone tries to digest what Aelix is saying.

'We must travel to Maere, Daniel. Find Spinner and find out where the rest of the chariot was cast asunder and hidden. Time is no longer on our side and the wheel is gaining power as it spins. _Find the coin for Maere and let us go!'_


	7. Chapter 7

**Through the Infernus Gate on Maere**

Daniel shivers in the cold air of the volcanic crater holding the ink-blue lake of the Infernus stargate. All around the lake, the craggy rim of the crater rears up, glassy volcanic rock reaching up in shards to the deep, clear sky above. Here and there, in the shadows, are the entrance to caverns and lava tubes, leading deep into the volcano, down to the lairs of the Morrigna wraiths.

As he is joined by the rest of the team stepping free from the gate, Daniel points to the nearest shadowy cave. 'Are there any left?'

'Morrigna?' Aelix asks, 'Some, maybe. The Naxen raiders crushed most underfoot but some escaped. Do not worry, Daniel, with Nixor turned to stone, their powers are much diminished. Little more than shadows now, I doubt they will disturb us.'

Daniel nods, hoping Aelix is right. He runs a hand over a nearby extrusion of rock, feeling the cold, surface under his hand, a myriad of tiny frozen bubbles in the glass. Agnes would have liked to have seen this place but her ankle was too sprained to make the trip.

Gail follows Teal'c and Jack through the gate not really sure what to expect. As she emerges into the Infernus Crater it feels as though she is waking from a dream of her old life, safe, secure and Earthbound. Here, in the cold air of a silent volcanic crater on another planet, far from home, is where she is waking to a new reality. All those UFO reports, all those unverified sightings, all the scepticism and disbelief she faced in every day of her job evaporates away. This is the new reality. Life beyond Earth. She grins broadly as she takes in their surroundings and then looks up at the sky, delighting in the vast canvas of unfamiliar stars etched across it.

'So, Aelix, where will we find this Spinner?' Teal'c climbs up to the top of the crater, his feet finding a path worn through the rock.

'I do not know. ' Aelix joins him, gasping slightly at the sight that greets them.

'You don't know?' Jack picks up on their conversation, struggling to reach their vantage point, above the lake. As he picks a path through the rock, Daniel and Gail follow him. 'Um, this might not be the right way...'

'The Spinner is very ancient. I was hoping to find some indication of where she might be once we arrived.' Aelix turns and proffers a helping hand to Gail who leaps up the last few feet to the top of the crater. 'Wow!' She she exclaims as the planet of Maere unfolds below them.

Daniel is the last to reach the vantage point and take in the view. The volcano sides roll steeply away to a barren plain below, littered with giant rocks and ravines and little else. Stretching away on one side a chain of volcanoes reach out like a belt across the land and, in the far distance, where the horizon drops out of sight rises a black fog, rolling in towards them.

'That looks like a fog bank, is it over a sea?' Gail asks.

'It is moving, quite quickly and towards us.' Teal'c observes, pointing with his Ma-Tok staff in its direction.

'Yes, yes you are right, Teal'c. It is moving this way... and it is not a sea fog but a sandstorm,quite timely too. We must get moving now.' Aelix strides down the side of the volcano without waiting for anyone else.

'But where are you going, you're heading straight towards it!' Jack yells after him in exasperation. Daniel shrugs at Jack and the others and heads after Aelix as Teal'c and then Gail also follow him, slipping their way down the glassy surface to the plain below.

 _'You are heading into the storm!'_ But no one listens to Jack so he shakes his head and sighs and then plunges off the crater, down the rock slopes after them.

Aelix reaches the plain first. From the top of volcano the rocks and ravines had looked small but now, vast glassy boulders loom, hiding deep crevasses full of brooding shadows and lava tubes, falling away into the planet's interior. The ground, solid enough when viewed from above, is in fact a desert of volcanic ash, in places knee deep, piled up in the lee of the boulders and falling here and there in quicksand runs into the ravines. The dust storm has halved the distance to the volcano in the time it took them to reach the plain below and now the sky is full of billowing clouds, building up and up and running towards them as Daniel, Teal'c, Gail and finally Jack join Aelix. The group watch for a second or two as the storm towers before them.

 _'Is there a plan?'_ Jack asks, breaking their awed silence.

 _'Yes, Stand on the hem of my cloak, all of you!_ We shall ride the sands across Maere. _Quickly now!'_

They all stand on the hem of Aelix's cloak, each wondering whether the young Magus knows what he is doing. Almost immediately the sand is in front of them, a cliff face of swirling grains and Aelix, reaching into his mind, pulls out an incantation and recites quietly under his breath from memory, then steps forward and upward into the sand. For a moment nothing seems to move and the whole group looks to be consumed by the sandstorm and then a staircase of sand forms beneath the cloak and they are rising up to the top of the storm. At the top, Aelix turns and stands, like a captain on the prow of a ship, arms folded and cloak spread out behind him. 'The sand remembers.'

 _'The sand remembers what?'_ Jack asks, dipping the toe of his boot into the sand and feeling it try and drag him down, off the cloak.

'I wouldn't do that, Jack. This is glass-sand, sharper than knives and as quick as water. But full of memory. It remembers Spinner well.'

Jack quickly pulls his foot back out of the storm and checks carefully to see if his boot is in one piece. It is but over the surface are a series of shallow cuts, as though slashed with a handful of knives.

'The sand remembers the spider? How do you know that?' Gail asks, almost but not quite lost for words.

'Because I am a Magus.' Aelix replies tetchily. 'Now, unless you all want to be cut into a thousand ribbons I suggest you stop asking questions and let me concentrate. This is the first time I have ever successfully managed to ride on glass-sand.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Spinner's Palace**

The team travels quickly across the surface of Maere, the glass-sand running alongside the ridge of volcanoes ringing the planet until it reaches a high valley, carved between two peaks. Here, the sand suddenly stops and recedes, leaving them high and dry on a rocky outcrop. Jack steps off Aelix's cloak and glances behind him, expecting to see the storm roll away but there is nothing, the sand has returned to the ground and all is still and quiet.

Aelix points at the valley ahead. 'This way.'

The team moves off, scrambling carefully over the sharp rocks to the valley floor, avoiding the deep drifts of glass sand. Here and there they find traces of an old path, warn smooth into the rock. Very slowly the ground begins to climb up towards a jumbled collection of what look like silvery rocks in the centre of the valley floor.

'Look!' Gail points to the nearby rocks which have strands of silver running through them. 'Does that look familiar? Like the disc?' As they get nearer the outcrop the strands of silver get thicker, like rope running through and over the ground until they reach the base of the rocky outcrop. Here, the path is almost carved through a thick tangle of these silver ropes twined together like trees and these are festooned with layers of web, from single, fine strands to large branches, all of them hung with drops of water, reflecting the light and sending it dancing over every surface. What looked like rocks from a distance is a giant, intricate, silver web.

Daniel runs a hand along one of the threads, feeling the water running along it to the lowest point. 'Mist catchers. This web is catching any moisture in the air and funnelling it back down towards the centre, ingenious!'

'Looks like a fairytale palace.' Gail adds. 'I'm guessing this path is the doorway in.'

'And I'm guessing you have just rung the bell.' Aelix points to the thread, still trembling from where Daniel's hand has been.

Jack leads the way into Spinner's palace, carefully avoiding touching any of the silver threads. Aelix, Gail and Daniel follow with Teal'c at the rear. Moving deeper into the web, they can hear the sound of the water, first dripping then running, turning into streams. Every now and then the path travels over one of these torrents, a fast running channel of inky water. The path leads them through corridors with intricate fretwork walls, all made of silver thread, depicting forests and mountains and then into vast chambers, full of vaulted ceilings and ornate floors, past fountains and waterfalls cut into walls and on until they reach a huge central hall, lit by light bouncing off giant cobweb trees holding up a deep blue ceiling, studded with bright stars. It takes the group a moment or two to realise it is, in fact, the sky they are looking up at. In the centre of the room is a deep pool, fed by a wide canal of the inky water as it glides like glass past them. Beyond this pool sits Spinner, quietly watching them with at least four of her eyes.

'Now that ' Jack whispers under his breath, 'is a _very_ big spider.'

 **At SGC:UK**

Agnes stares at her ankle, heavily strapped and sighs. Just her luck to be stuck on Earth while the rest of the team are off-world on an adventure. On her desk in front of her are photos of the now spinning disc. If Aelix is right and it's part of a giant chariot, how did it end up buried in the cliff? While it might have been there for thousands of years, there should be some record of the events leading to it's burial, even if it is only as a myth or legend. Agnes knows that before history books there is a great treasure trove of stories, handed down buy word of mouth stretching back into the mists of time. An oral history pre-dating books. She switches on her tablet and calls up the internet and types a single word into the search engine: Giants.

After a lot of sports listings, two things catch her attention. The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and just how worldwide references to giants are. All over the globe there are myths and legends associated with them, even reports of giant skeletons being found. She clicks on a link for the Giant's Causeway and starts to read. She had always assumed it was a naturally occurring geological feature but now, with the disc spinning outside, maybe it was a paved road for a chariot instead.

(Author's note : Thank you for reading my story so far, with Christmas approaching, I shall be taking a break from writing the story for a few weeks, hope you will return in the New Year for more chapters. Wishing you all a happy holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.)


	9. Chapter 9

**On Maere**

'Nothing treads as noisily as a _Celestian_. Tell me, Avalonian, why do you keep the company of _these creatures_ and who is the tall one. I do not remember the echo of his footfall.' The spider shifts her position on a throne made of web and a thousand lines of silvery thread, all radiating from the throne start to tremble. In turn, a thousand drops of water fall, running across the floor of the throne room into the canal, a silent cascade of silver marbles.

'Oh wise and gracious Spinner. I am Aelixor the Magus and these are my travelling companions. You are right, they _are_ Celestians. We have travelled here to seek your counsel..'

'Yes, yes...and the tall one?'

'The tall? Oh, Teal'c?' Aelix is nonplussed by her disinterest in their quest. Teal'c steps forward and bows politely. 'Madam, I am Teal'c of Chulak, we are here to ask you about a chariot made for a Giant.'

'I made a good many things for Giants once. Now they were _very_ tall. Step closer Teal'c of Chulak, let me get a good look at you.'

 _'I would advise against it.'_ Aelix whispers but he is too late and Teal'c steps towards the throne. All the spider's eyes are on Teal'c now and before anyone can react, a fine meshed web is pulled up around him from where it had lain, invisible, on the floor. The lines holding the mesh seem to move at the spider's will and, within seconds, Teal'c hangs over the pool trying to break free from the trap. Jack and Daniel try to grab him but the pool is too wide and he is suspended too high.

'Now, _Celestians_ , if you free him from my web with your weapons, he will fall into the Gate of Tears and you will never find him. I have the combination for a thousand galaxies and you will grow old and wither long before you find your prized warrior again. If you hurt or kill me, as your kind are so keen to do, he will still fall through the gate. Put away your weapons and tell me what you want from the last Spinner of Maere? Isn't it enough your kind have persecuted my children for millennia?'

Daniel stops trying to free Teal'c and asks the Spinner a question. ' _Your children?_ Do you mean spiders on Earth... I mean Celestia?'

The Spinner peers at Daniel. 'Yes, yes. All arachnids across the galaxies are descended from the original Great Spinners of Maere. We used the Gate of Tears not only to trade our goods but also to spread our species far and wide. We offer host planets our services in return for safe haven. But your planet is different, your species cruel. You stopped prizing our skilled craftsmanship long ago, you have bought hatred and fear to our kind. You have made my kind hide from your sight, diminished us to little more than pests, _made us stoop to poison._..' The Spinner stops to take a deep breath shifting again on her throne, sending another storm of droplets into the pool and making Teal'c, trapped in the web, drop a little closer to the inky water.

 _'Wait!'_ Jack tries to think of a way to placate the Spinner's outrage. 'We are here to apologise for these dreadful crimes against...spiders. You are right, we are a cruel and... and thoughtless species but it is time we made amends for our forefathers and... and find a way to move forward with an amnesty for all spinning kind.'

 _'An amnesty?'_ The Spinner asks sarcastically.

'Yes.' Jack nods.

'Hmm...Why are they really here Aelixor the Magus?' The Spinner shakes her head at Jack and turns one of her eyes on Aelix.

'We are here because a chariot wheel has broken loose from its burial site deep underground. I think it is made by one of your ancestors for a Giantess but the legend is lost, I was hoping you might remember who it was made for.'

'A chariot wheel you say? For a Giantess. I probably might have a memory somewhere of it. I don't like Celestians but the Giants were worse. Made my ancestors spin to their death with their appetite for our silversilk. This planet was once beautiful and full of life, carpeted with forests and flowers until the Giants arrived and enslaved us. Laid it all to waste. You do not know what that is like Celestians.'

 _'I think we might.'_ Jack replies under his breath.

'I know what it is like, great Lady.' Teal'c talks over Jack's reply. 'My people were enslaved by the Goa'uld. We thought them Gods. They were not.'

'I hear honesty in your voice Teal'c of Chulak. I have done you a disservice.' Spinner reaches our with an arm and tugs at a nearby thread of silversilk. The trap swings over the pool and drops to the floor in front of her. The threads seem to untie themselves and the mesh of web melt away and Teal'c stands free of the trap.

'The Giants thought they could be Gods. They asked for chariots to ride the galaxies with and for shields and weapons to galvanise themselves with... and we spun and spun until they were invincible.' The Spinner pauses, her eyes looking into the distance as though peering back through time.

'What happened to them?' Daniel asks, carefully jumping over the canal to stand by Teal'c.

'All my family gone...So long ago. I barely remember them.'

Aelix, Jack and Gail join Daniel and Teal'c in front of the throne of The Spinner as she starts to recall a story from a long, long time ago.


	10. Chapter 10

**Back At SGC:UK**

Agnes pauses in her research and checks the time. Several hours have passed and still she is no closer to pinpointing a particular myth or legend that points to a Giantess with a chariot that ended up buried in the cliffs of Dorset. But a more general picture is emerging. Across the world, there are references to giants who are in some way connected to the land or the sea and who are now bound down by it. It's as though at some point in pre-history there was a great uprising and these creatures were cast underground. Many of these creatures are not from earth. If you put all the fragments of myths, folklores and histories together, you see a bigger picture, one where supernatural creatures arrived at this planet, at the dawn of humankind and tried to enslave them. Eventually they were defeated and driven underground into rocks and mountains and hills, or into the sea, often with the help of other supernatural beings.

Agnes finds herself at the search engine results for 'basalt columns worldwide' and is surprised to see such a long list of features around the globe. Perhaps they are just a volcanic phenomenon and not the crash site of a Giantess's space travelling chariot. Unless it was an epic worldwide battle. An ad in the corner of the internet page catches her eye. In an intricately bordered square of Celtic knots is a simple statement. 'Ask me to untie the meaning of the knots.' Without knowing why she clicks on the add. A pop-up window appears on her screen and Agnes curses under her breath, click bait, she should have known. She is about to close the window when a face, framed with greyish curly hair and twinkly eyes looms in too close to what is clearly a webcam.

'Helloo! Helloo! You just caught me, I was about done for the day. This is a premium rate number so you'll be charged for my time, I'm afraid. What can I do for you?' The man sits back down at their desk and Agnes can see more of the room, a modern office with a pictures of Celtic art on the walls. The man is in his mid-forties, dressed casually.

'Hi, I'm sorry I just randomly clicked on your ad. I didn't realise it was to a...a chatline thing..' Agnes now isn't at all sure what it is she clicked on.

'Not one of _those_ chatlines I can assure you!' The man's laugh is reassuringly hearty. 'My name's Cameron Galbraith and I run web seminars on interpreting Celtic designs. I'm an artist and I teach Celtic design long distance over the web as well. I though you were one of my students.'

'Oh OK! My name's Agnes Dale and I'm a.. a curator for the British museum, in the coins department.' Agnes decides not to reveal she is working for SGC just yet. 'I was researching some Celtic legends about giants and I clicked on your ad by mistake, Mr. Galbraith.'

'Don't worry and you can call me Knotty, everyone does. Celtic Giant legends? Just my sort of thing. Which ones in particular?'

'Call you n _aughty?'_ Agnes asks, thinking she must have heard him wrong.

'No, no not _naughty_ , KNOTTY like knots. It's the accent!' He breaks out into laughter again and Agnes finds herself smiling too. She is finding him a little too attractive and she is almost relieved to see he is wearing a wedding band. 'The Giant's Causeway in particular.'

'Ah yes, Finn and Benandonner, I know the legend well. There are many giants sleeping across our lands. Theirs is a more famous tale.'

 _'Sleeping?'_

'Bound to the earth. Often under mountains or in the sea. I have this pet theory that Celtic knots are a literal translation of these binding spells. Passed down through the generations but still keeping all the giant foes and wee creatures from our myths under control. Tied up in knots you see. Just a thought, really. We have meanings for the endless knot, that is what these designs are called, in its various patterns but well...these pattens start appearing just as all these mythical creatures disappear. '

Agnes is about to ask a question when the General bounds into her office and leaps up at the desk, followed by Professor Pete Cromwell, standing at the doorway. 'Ah, there you are Agnes, any luck because that wheel is getting faster and still nothing from the away team...' Pete's voice trails off as he can see Agnes frantically trying to signal for him to stop by indicating with her eyes and head to her screen. Pete walks over to her desk and glances at the face on the screen.

'Who's this?'

'This is Knotty I mean, Cameron Galbraith an expert on Celtic mythology. I was just asking about...'

But Pete doesn't wait for an answer. 'Excellent, we can do with all the help we can get. Find out where he is and I'll get a helicopter to pick him up... Come, General. We need to get ahead of this thing!'

'A helicopter... to the British Museum? You do know I'm based in Edinburgh don't you?' Knotty asks, slightly perplexed from this sudden turn of events.

'I'm sorry. I wasn't being completely truthful. I did work for the museum but now I work for a secret military organisation that deals with... with classified happenings.'

'Like giants?' Knotty asks, slightly bemused by this strange webcam conversation.

'Like giant spinning ancient chariot wheels that are found in cliff falls after storms.' Agnes states baldly.

'Oh, well, that's OK then.' Knotty replies calmly. 'And the name of this organisation? Hey, wait... is this to do with the cliffs in Dorset after the hurricane? I saw something on the news.'

'Yes, it is. We are called Stargate Command and we are based in Wiltshire. Will you help us?'

'Stargate?'

'As in a gate to the stars.'

'To the stars? Like space travel? Now this I must see. A helicopter?'

'Yes, you will need a cover story for your family.'

'There's only my husband, James and me and he's on a business trip, he won't be back for a week.'

'OK, I'll pass you over to one of the operatives in command and they'll arrange your transport. I'll see you soon, Knotty.'


	11. Chapter 11

**The land of the Giants**

'Once, when the universe was young and small enough to fit on a map, there was a race of giants who grew big and strong on their abundant planet. My ancestors found their huge planet through the Gate of Tears, many galaxies from here.' The Last Spinner of Maere pauses for dramatic effect and to check her audience are still listening. 'Their planet was once a rich and fertile place, full of forests and waters and bathed in the warm, green light of its distant sun.'

'Green light?' Daniel questions her.

'Yes, green. The great size of the planet and the distance from their sun combined to make the light to look green...like a prism.'

'It would explain why the planet was so forested, all that food for the plant chlorophyll.' Daniel muses, almost to himself.

'The Giants soon realised their size was an advantage and used it to exploit us and then enslave whole galaxies with their chariots and weapons of silversilk. All the while their greed for power knowing no end, destroying all they touched. They are gone now. Defeated and the last of them cast down.'

The last of them?' Jack picks up on the Spinners turn of phrase.

'A giantess. She tried to enslave Celestia. I spun for her, my family spun for her. But it was never enough. Always she wanted more. I had almost forgotten. So few visit me here...'

'Does she have a name, Spinner?' Gail prompts her.

'Yes, her name was... _Theia.'_ The Spinner carefully whispers the name after searching her memory for it, as though finding a treasure that had been buried for a long, long time. 'Theia. Her chariot crashed and she was defeated, a long time ago.'

'And this planet of the Giants, do you have the coordinates of how to get there, through the Gate?'

The Last Spinner of Maere sighs, these headstrong Celestians and their Magus guide are not heeding her story. 'The Land of the Giants is best left forgotten, Magus. You should know that.'

She shifts on her throne and the droplets of water run into a new position on her web and, as Daniel stares at it, he suddenly sees, not silver threads and tears but star maps and galaxies. 'Your web, it's a map of the universe!'

Spinner nods. 'An old, old map. Now the universe spins out of my control but once upon a time, I held the threads and the keys to the gate.'

'Our gates open with tokens, but the Gate of Tears?'

'Opens only at my will.'

'And will you open it so we can travel to the Land of the Giants...' But Aelix gets no further.

'I am tired of you all. I have heard enough. Celestians are always trouble. Go away and leave me alone.' The Spinner shrinks her self up into a small ball and shuts her eyes and as she does so her web starts to shake and change, new droplets running into new star maps until it suddenly looks very familiar to Daniel. He points to a portion of a web, 'This is our galaxy. Quick, has anyone got a camera?' Gail nods and pulls on her sunglasses. 'Built in camera feed, it'll film what I'm looking at.' She quickly scans the whole of the throne room while the Gate of Tears suddenly starts to form ripples on its inky surface.

'I think she has opened the Gate for us to leave by.' Teal'c shouts over the noise of the rising vortex forming in its centre.

'Yes but to where?' Jack shouts back, keeping an eye and a gun trained on the Spinner. But the Last Spinner of Maere is lost in a deep sleep.

'I think it's to Earth. Look! The web has put our galaxy over the Gate!' Daniel grabs Gail's arm. 'Have you finished filming the web?'

'Yes!' Gail nods and tucks the glasses inside her jacket. 'Time to go!'

The vortex reaches up and fills the space above Gate of Tears, blocking any exit back out the way they came. The team have no choice but to step through to wherever the Spinner has chosen as their destination, the water engulfs them as they all step into the pool then falls away, leaving the throne room empty and silent.

The Spinner opens one eye to check the Celestians have gone then sets to spinning muttering to herself about them. If they are foolish enough to wake a giant, they will need all the silversilk she can make.


	12. Chapter 12

**At SGC:UK**

Above their heads the video from Gail's camera glasses plays out, a three dimensional web of distant galaxies. 'This is us.' Daniel points to a portion of the map representing the solar system. 'And this, as far as I can tell, is MG3, Mirror Galaxy Three, that's Maere there, Avalon and Epona...' Daniel pauses to check he has the whole team's attention. The atrium of Stargate Command has fallen silent as everyone stares above their heads at the spider's web stretching out in all directions.

'And a spider did this? It's extraordinary... I can see why you might think it's a map...' Cameron 'Knotty' Galbraith still feels slightly bilious from the helicopter ride down to SGC headquarters. 'I mean, come on... a map of the universe?'

'Of _a_ universe, yes.' Daniel pauses in his reply, amused by the look of incredulity on the face of this new addition to the team. 'But not really a map, more a passport. A way to unlock a Stargate by rotating these simplified galaxies into place above the pool, like a virtual set of chevron glyphs.'

Cameron shakes his head in bemusement and Agnes, seeing his confusion, leans over and whispers. 'Don't worry Knotty, it'll all make sense in the end. A year ago I was a newbie like you. For a while it's as though you've fallen down a rabbit hole and into Wonderland!'

Knotty nods in agreement. Ever since arriving by helicopter near Stonehenge, nothing has been what it seems. A motorway service station with a secret base underneath. A giant spinning wheel in a disused quarry and now a huge spider's web which is meant to be a map of the stars. Wonderland indeed.

'If we zoom in here...' Daniel continues, making the map zoom in on a single thread. 'As far as we can tell, each glyph is connected to a silversilk thread running into the pool, acting the way the chevrons and dial do, connecting a set of points together through the fabric of space.'

'And the giant? In your report you talk about a home planet. Have we located it on this map yet?' Professor Pete Cromwell asks, directly cutting through what could be a very long explanation by Daniel. Time is short and the wheel in the quarry is running faster.

'Well,' Daniel grimaces slightly. 'Using the information on this star map and our own galaxy mapping team, we've located four possibles, from thousands.' He adds.

The team had arrived back from Maere to find Agnes had tracked down an expert in Celtic mythology, a Professor Galbraith. While talk of maps to the stars and silversilk is all very interesting, it isn't the crux of the matter and, impatient as ever, Jack cuts in over Daniel. 'The big spider creature, Spinner said the Giantess Theia had a chariot made of her silversilk which she travelled about the galaxies enslaving people, including us humans. Somehow her chariot crashed on Earth and she disappeared. The rest of the chariot must be around somewhere, waiting to break free and join with our wheel! There seems to be, from your report Agnes, the possibility of Theia and other giants also being buried somewhere. But we don't know where. Shouldn't we be studying seismology reports and trying to locate the rest of the chariot before that wheel outside does some major damage?'

The General decides that Jack's raised voice is a cue to bark and he adds a gruff 'woof!' to the end of Jack's outburst.

'That sounds like a plan, Commander. Like the General, I agree.' Pete Cromwell stands up and joins Daniel and Jack under the projected star map in the centre of the Atrium. 'We will split into two teams. An away team to track down Theia's home planet using this map do you think it will work over our Stargate pool? If not, you will have to get this Spinner on our side. Have tecnical look at this asap. I want each of those four possible planets visited. Daniel, Teal'c and Aelix you will head up this team. Your priority will be any intel you find on how to control and stop the wheel.

Agnes, you and Professor Galbraith can start correlating giant mythology with actual geographic sites in the UK, I appreciate your sprained ankle means fieldwork is out of the question. You can babysit our newbie till he gets to know us and Jack and Gail can work on running up any leads this generates. Gail your alien encounters contacts might be useful, see if there's any chatter. I want absolute silence on this. The public must be protected from the possibility of alien technology breaking free. The last thing we need public panic over imminent invasion by alien giants.'

Aelix draws himself up to his full height and coughs gently. 'If I may suggest an addition to our team. It would be useful to have another warrior on our team. I would like to bring Kyna, if Queen Tara will release her from her duties. A Valkyr blade at our side might well be useful in the Land of the Giants.'


	13. Chapter 13

**Back to Epona**

Daniel, Teal'c and Aelix stand at the edge of the StarGate pool near Blick Mead. All around the thin willows whisper in a light breeze, an expectant, waiting sound. Daniel retrieves the token from his jacket pocket and holds it between his thumb and forefinger. He glances at Teal'c and Aelix to see if they are ready and then gently flips the coin in an arc out across the pool. It glints in the soft sunshine, spinning towards the centre of the pool but before it can land Teal'c leaps across and grabs it, reaching out with his Ma'Tok staff to the other two as the pool swirls up to form a gate to Epona. Daniel and Aelix grab the staff and step into the pool as the vortex forms around them, transporting them through space to Kyna's home.

Kyna lets her gaze sweep up and around the Great Hall until her eyes alight on the very rafter she fell from a year ago. Was it really only a year since then? She sighs, remembering the very great adventure and her time with the Celestians. She moves her hand to feel the reassuring weight of Raizor, her Xiphos pattern-welded short blade at her side, trying not to fidget too much as she stands on guard next to the Queen.

She turns her gaze back across the Horse Chiefs of Epona, sitting or standing in groups around the Great Hall, feeling the weight of boredom across her eyelids that only accompanies a very long and very dull speech. In the centre of the hall, one of the Chiefs, a wiry, wind burnt husk of a woman is expounding her great admiration for the Queen, starting with the formal list of horse pedigrees stretching back through her herd to the Great Gathering of the First King, Teffen the Giant Killer. Kyna glances at Queen Tara and can see her eyelids drooping too, the Crown of Kin with its eternally entwined silver hands slipping low over her brow. Kyna coughs, sharply and the Queens starts slightly and, realising where she is, sighs and makes out as though she is adjusting the white horse amulet on her flowing red gown, then, running a hand through her hair, pushes the crown back in place. The Gathering of the Kin, the yearly meeting of the Horse Chiefs, is sometimes a long-winded and dull affair.

Something at the far end of the Great Hall catches Kyna's eyes, some unexpected movement and she automatically tenses, ready to jump forward to protect Tara, her hand hovering near her blade. On the other side of the Queen, Myrna, one of the Queen's Valkyr guard, also notices the movement and nods to Kyna, indicating she should go and check out what it is.

From the shadows behind the dais the Queen is sitting on, the Valkyr called Cailin moves forward to take Kyna's place next to the Queen. Kyna slips quietly into the long shadows at the side of the great Hall, moving between the large wooden pillars with barely a sound, her dagger drawn. It is highly unlikely a Naxen has found a way into the Hall but something is definitely not quite right.

At the far end of the Hall by the heavy doors, two guards are arguing with someone outside trying to get in, whispering through the thin cracks in the ancient wooden panels.

'The doorway is now sealed, unless you are a Horse Chief you must wait till after the Gathering...'

'And how long will that be?' the voice beyond sounds exasperated and familiar to Kyna.

'Well, maybe another day and night. Or longer.'

'Our matter is most pressing, we just need to speak with the Valkyr Kyna, will you pass on a message?'

'The Valkyrs guard the Queen, they don't talk to no strangers. Now be on your way before you get us into trouble. Message indeed.' The guard sniffs and turns his back to find Kyna, blade levelled at his neck, right behind him. He yelps and jumps nervously.

'The Valkyr guards would appreciate it if you pass on all messages to us, especially if the matter is pressing.' Kyna touches the point of Raizor's blade to the guard's neck to emphasise her point and calls through the door. 'Who's there?'

' _Kyna?_ Is that you, it's Aelix...' Before he can finish his sentence, Kyna lets out of a whoop of delight. _'It's the Magus! My Queen, we have a visitor, it is the Magus Aelixor!'_

Tara sighs in relief, seeing a way to stop the Horse Chief's never-ending speech. She gets to her feet and raises her hand.

'Silence! Open the Great Doors at once and let the Magus approach. What news do you bring to us, Aelixor of Avalon!'

Aelix steps into the Great Hall and approaches the Queen's dias, followed by Teal'c and Daniel. In front of them, the gathered Horse Chiefs step aside and let them pass until the three of them are in front of the Queen.

'I bring news of a threat to the Celestian homeworld, Great Queen. A threat that could spill out across the galaxies and must be contained before it threatens all our worlds. It would aid us greatly to have a Valkyr blade at our side.'

'You wish to borrow some of our armoury?' Queen Tara asks, glad of such a welcome distraction as the Magus and his friends.

'Not so much the armour, more one of your guards.' Aelix smiles and nods at Kyna. 'In fact, just one.'

Tara smiles and beckons Kyna towards her. 'Let me guess, that one being young Kyna here. Another adventure.' Tara sighs, almost wishing she herself could go with them. 'Will there be great peril and fierce fighting again?'

'Almost certainly Your Majesty.' Daniel almost chokes at Aelix's answer but the Queen seems visibly delighted at the thought. 'And, Magus, will you tell us what this threat is?'

'No.' Aelix folds his arms and does not elaborate further. The Queen thinks for a while then, stands and addresses the gathering.

'We have a kinship with the Celestians, forged in battle and bonded in peace. I am sending my Valkyr, Kyna to help our friends as a symbol of that bond. Fight well, Kyna!'

Kyna bows to her Queen and then joins Daniel, T'ealc and Aelix, barely able to stop a huge grin from spreading across her face as they process slowly back through the Great Hall and out through the unsealed doors into the bright sunshine.


End file.
